Thursday, August 13, 2015

Kickstarter Catastrophe

I was looking at the damage from the docks in China and wondering if any kickstarter or gaming product got caught up in it after seeing an image of a parking lot of destroyed cars. That is a negligible concern compared to people who lost loved ones. A number that has grown significantly from the early values listed yesterday. China has apparently already detained people in charge of the facility where the accident occurred. Looking at a list of industrial disasters is a sad reminder of the poor care often taken and the real price paid by workers.

There is definitely going to be some missing shipments out of there for something. Mantic had said they expect the first set of Dungeon Saga to be loading soon and there are many ports in China shipping goods so the chances of any specific project being hit are low. What would happen though if the rewards were destroyed in such a way? GW talks about how they are insured against the factory burning down but what about these kickstarter projects being out sourced for manufacturing in China. I am sure the factory would not think they are responsible, and the project company would blame the shipper who would probably claim act of god or criminal activity. Even if at some point you figured out who was responsible those backers are probably either getting screwed or very delayed product even for kickstarter if the insurance came through and everything had to be made again. Kickstarter based companies are better off in this regard to companies who have firm delivery dates and might be driven out of business by a missed shipment.

On a more normal kickstarter issue, Mantic noted that Dungeon Saga might be a few weeks late but was not very clear if that lateness was from the original Aug 2015 date (IE right now) or from the revised Sept 2015 that had been discussed. I am assuming the Sept 2015 which means probably Oct 2015. It was also noted that the first shipment is pure Dungeon Saga base pledges and the expansion stuff was coming in later still. Since they are doing single shipping this means the more you spent probably the later you get your stuff. I got the expansions so I would guess that it just might arrive for Christmas, maybe. I also guess that I might be one of those people who get to see the wonders of stuff you backed in kickstarter on store shelves before you get it. They said that the preorders they are taking now are for after the kickstarter ships but if people are not expecting delivery to November at the earliest, it is kind of earlier for the retailers to be doing preorders.